JAMAICA – New fears have been raised by Jamaican hoteliers that the US$45m Montego Bay Convention Centre project won’t be ready in time to host the Caribbean Marketplace event in December 2011.
The project broke ground last February and is funded by a loan from the Chinese government. Complant, a Chinese firm, is in charge of construction.
The Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) says technical delays could mean the facility may now open in January 2012, when the JHTA itself holds a booking slot.
The MBCC is designed to hold 6,000 people and will have 2,000 sqm of banqueting space and 1,000 sqm of meeting rooms.
JHTA president Wayne Cummings says stakeholders need to pull together to have the facility completed on time for the staging of the trade show, as failure “would cause embarrassment to Jamaica”.
“We cannot afford to have any negativity surrounding the Marketplace because we are not just doing a Jamaican show, we are doing a Caribbean show,” Cummings told the Jamaica Observer.
“The convention centre is important to the town. We have a lot of rooms (and) with those rooms we have to have the ability to put on major events,” he said.
